Spring.



H. I POPPENHUSEN.

SPRING.

APPLICATION FILED APR. a, Ism.

anni

HEREN-N A' POFFENHUSEN, gli' @MWL-GQ; ILUNOW'..

stenrne., i

Application led April t, 1914;.; Serial No. 880,554.

To allackom t may concern:

Bc it known that ll, HERMAN A. Porrenrrnsnn, acitizen of the United States, and a resident ofChicago, in the county of Cook a State of Illinois, have invented certain new. and useful improvements in Springs; and l do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part oftliis spepification.

'll his invention relates to improvements in vehicle springs andl more particularly to that class of springs comprising in their construction a series of superimposed flexible plates or bars, said series of plates being secured together lat their central por tions, and adapted tomove lengthwise relative to each other, as the weight supported by the spring is increased and decreased.

.The principal object of this invention is to provide a construction for vehicle springs embodying a simple and edective means for reducing the friction between the plates.

My invention therefore consists in the matters hereinafter described, more particularly pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a view in elevation of a spring provided with my improved means for reducing friction between the leaves; Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section of two .superimposed spring leaves with one form of friction roller mounted between them; Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan View, showing one form of roller mounted between two leaves; Fig. 4; is an enlarged` fragmentary view similar to Fig. 2, showing .a .modified construction; Fig. 5 is an enlarged'ila View, showing 'a modified formpf rpller; Fig. 6 is a perspective View of one .form Aof roller, such as shown in Figsl and-3; and iFig. 7 is a perspective view 'of a modiiied form of roller, suchA as shown in'Figs. 4 and v5.

Referring lto the' drawings, a spring ernbodying the features of my invention comprises' aplurality of superimposed plates or leaves 10, said leaves consisting .of elongated plates: or strips of flexible sheet metal ofV unequal lengths (Fig. l), the uppermost 'leaf Vbeing the -longestfand the length of wenen succeeding leaf being proportionall,

decreasedso that the end portions of eac 'throughout said 'end e portions.

leafprojects substantially the `same die ytance beyond'the leaf immediately below.. The leaves are connectedtogether at their central portions by means ofstraps l1, ll, surrounding the same, although other. means such as a bolt extending through the leaves may be employed. The spring leaves are provided with a suitable degree of curvature, as is the practice in constructing springs of this form, so that lthe upper surfaces thereof are concave.y

The upper spring leaf is provided at its ends with eyey bolts l2, by means of which the vehicle or .other body is attached, the springfbeing supported at its midpoint upon the axle orl the like by suitable securing means, herein shown as the eye bolt 13, attached to the underside of the spring by Incanscf the straps l1, ll.

hespringis arranged to be acted upon by a plurality of parallel forces. 'to wit, downward force at each end of the spring', and an. upward force at the center thereof, and intermediate of the ends. is these opposed forces are increased .and decreased the spring tends to be flexed from its position of normal gcurvatureto a straightened position, and viceversa, with the attendant lengthwise movement of, the leaves relative to each other, this. movement being ordinarily in the nature .of a sliding of one plate upon the other. The extent of the movement is obviously greatest at the extreme ends .of the spring leaves, and for .that reason theI maximum .degree ofy friction is produced lrrorder tov eliminate so far as possible the. friction between the spring leaves and 'the Aundesirable effects thereof, l propose to prpvide the .following ,arrangement ofantivfriction devices in the .form'of rollers lt:

.adapted toloe mounted between the end portionsof the leaves. as shown in Fig.A l.

theend portions `of the leaves l0, 10, and to be revolvcdin either direction by the rela.-

tive .movement of .the tact with. the roller.. u roller are provided semi-circular shaped.

.s ring leaves in corrie` t eachv end ofr the anges 15,15, said flanges being located in. corresponding positions upon the ends oi the roller. As a preferable construction, the flanges are formed integral with the rollers although they may be equally well attached in any suitablemanner. The ilanges are of a thickness sufficient to prevent their being easily broken, and of -a lradius slightly greater than the thickness of the plates 10, so that the lower portions of the iange are adapted to eXtendbeyond the lower surface of the spring leaf immediately below the roller. The upper surfaces 16 of the eX- tremities'of the flanges are preferably inclined toward the axis of the roller for the purpose liereinafter'set forth.

'Within the longitudinal margins of the spring yleaf and adjacent to the end thereof are formed two recesses 17, 17, preferably rectangular in form. These recesses are arranged in opposite relation and act as guides for the rollers, in l'that they are adapted to receive the flanges 15, 15 of the roller. The width of the recesses is substantially equal to the thickness of the flanges, the length of the recesses being somewhat greater than the diameter of the flanges, thereby aiordf ing sufficient space for the longitudinal movement of the roller as the same is rotated by the lengthwise movement of the leaves relative to each other. By means of the combination of thellanges and recesses the rollers are reta-ined in position, being permitted to roll lengthwise through a limited distance, but are prevented from further movement by the contact of the flanges l5- with the end surfaces of the recesses, which serve as stop shoulder :fn like manner the engagement of the rollers within the guides formed by the recesses, prevents the endwise movement of the rollers relative to the leaves.

The insertion of the rollers between the end portions of the leaves acts to separate the same throughout said portions, and therefore l prefer to` separate the central portions of the leaves by the insertion of spacing members or plates 18, between central' portions thereof adjacent to straps 11, 11.

In Figs. 4, 5 and 6 of the drawings, have shown a modified construction of my invention wherein l provide a plurality of rollers 20, but in this instance each roller has a single flange 21, identical in form with those hereinbefore described, but,lo cated at the central portion of the roller. This flange engages an elongated slot or guideway 2Q, formed at the centralportion .of the lea-i'. This form of roller and guide is otherwise identical in itsvlocation and function with the before described orm of my device. ln order to prevent the rollers from being disposed'from their positions and the flanges disengaged from their guide slots in the instance of a severe shock to the spring, which would result in an cxcessive spreading of the spring leaves, l choose to provide a pin 523 which extends through the lower portion of the liange oli each roller, as shown in `Figs. s: und 7. I:the pin is secured in an aperture i'r'ormed in that portion oi the flange which projects below the lower surface of the spring leaf, and is adapted to extend in. either direction beyond the side margins of toe slot. The pin thus acts to prevent the iiange `from' being removed from the/slot and furthermore acts to retain the tlange in position so that the flanges are maintained at all times upon the under surface of said rollers.

The flanges are formed to extendpthroughout one-half of the circumference of the roller for the purpose of providing means for retaining and for guiding the movement of the rollers between the leaves, and at thesame time allowing the rollers to coact throughout the entire width of the spring leaf immediately above the roller. Soalso it is unnecessary to remove any portion of the metal of the uppermost spring leaf, thereby materially weakening the same, at that point where the maximum bending moment occurs. The provision of the inciined end surfaces 16 of the flanges is now apparent, namely, te permit a greater r0- tative movementof the roller without danger of the ends of the flange striking the upper spring leaf, thereby interfering with the free movement oi the members.

rlie principal advantage of my' invention is the simplicity ci construction of the rollers, the absence of cages and bearings for the rollers which require 'frequent attention and repair, and the low costJ oi manufacture and maintenance. A further feature of my invention is that ordinary spring may be easily provided with anti-friction rollers of this form with ver Y little expense and labor. The rollers are easily accessible for cleaning and oiling and may be easily replaced should one become broken or displaced.

The details of construction of my invention maybe variously modified without departing from the spirit of my invention, and for that reason l do not wish to be limited to the particular iorm herein shown and described, eXcept in so far as pointed out in the appended claims. y

lf claim as my invention: A

1. A spring, comprising ay plurality of superimposed iexible plates, a roller interposed between two ot said plates and provided witha radially extending projection, one of said plates being provided With a recess adapted to be engaged by said projection.

2. A spring comprising a plurality of superimposed flexible plates, a roller interneer avenants corr posed between the plates and provided with a radial projection, one of said plates being provided with stop shoulders, between which said projection is adapted to extend.

3. A spring, comprising a plurality of superimposed -flexible plates, a plurality of rollers interposed between said plates, each of said'rollers being provided with a radially extending projection, and one of said plates in contact with each of said rollers being provided with a recess adapted to be engaged by said projection.

4. A spring, comprising a plurality of superimposed flexible plates, a plurality of transversely extending rollers interposed between saidl plates, each of said rollers being provided with a radially extending projection, and one of said plates in contact with each of said rollers being provided with a longitudinally extending recess adapted to be engaged by said projection.

'5. A spring, comprising a plurality of superimposed Hexible plates, a plurality of rollers interposed betweenfsaid plates, each of said rollers being provided with a flange extending radially from the rollers, substantially throughout one-half of the circumference of said roller, and one of the plates in Contact with each roller being provided with a longitudinal recess adapted to be enaged by said Bange.

6. spring, comprising a plurality of superimposed flexible plates, a plurality of rollers mounted between said plates, and extending transversely thereof, each of said rollers being provided at its ends with coi:-

respondingly arranged and outwardly extending flanges surroundin substantially one-half the circumference o the roller, and one of the plates in contact with said rollers being provided, at its margins with longitudinally extending recesses, adapted to be constantly engaged by the flanges of each of said rollers.

7. A spring, comprising a plurality of superimposed flexible plates, each of said plates extending beyond the extremity of the plate immediately below, a plurality of rollers mounted transversely between said plates, each of said rollers being provided with an outwardly extending flange surrounding substantially one-half of the circumference of the roller,- the plate in contact with the lower surface of each of the rollers being provided with a longitudinally extending recess formedl in the end portions of the plate and beyond the ends of the plate immediately below, said recess beplates, each of said rollers being ing adapted to be constantly engaged by thel flange of each of said rollers.

8. A spring, Acomprising a plurality of superimposed flexible plates, each plate exi tending beyond the ends of the plate immediately below, a plurality of transversely extending rollers mounted between said plates, each roller being provided at its ends with outwardly extending flanges sur; rounding substantially one-half the diameter of the roller, the plate in contact.with` the lower surface of each of said rollers being provided withlongitudinally extending recesses adapted to be constantly engaged by `the flanges of. each roller, said recesses being located in the end portions of the plate and beyond the ends of the plate immediately below.

9. A spring, comprising a plurality of superimposed flexible plates, a plurality of rollers mounted between said plates, and ex-L tending transversely thereof, each of said rollers being provided with an outwardlyr extending flange surrounding substantially one-half the circumference of the roller, and one of the plates in contact with said rollers being provided with a longitudinally extendingrecess, adapted to be engaged by the flange of each roller, and means for retaining said flange in engagement with said recess.

10. A spring, comprising a plurality of superimposed flexible plates, each of said plates extending beyond the extremity of the plate immediately below, a plurality of rollers mounted transversely between said provided with an outwardly extending ange surrounding substantially one-half of the cir-- .cumference of the roller, and adapted to extend beyond one of the plates in contact with the roller, said plate being provided 'with a longitudinallyl extending recess located in the end portions thereof and beyond the ends of the plate immediately below, said recess .being adapted to be constantly engaged by said flange, and a pin extendingthrough the portion of the flange beyond said plate.

In testimony that l claim the foregoing as my invention l affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses, this 4th day of April A. D. 1914.

HERMAN A. POPPENHUSEN 

